Marino's Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Bellflower

This is a great family owned restaurant. It's not gourmet or Michelin starred, but it's made well and tastes great. You really feel like part of la famiglia when you eat there. Dinner starts with garlic bread, then minestrone soup, then a house salad. All were good, but of course were nothing fancy. For the entree my wife and I shared the Chicken Marsala. It was cooked magnificently. Chicken wasn't dry, the sauce was balanced, pasta al dente. Desert was the real winner, we got the Cassata di Ricotta, which in the description sounds like a cheese cake, but really it's a cake. Confusing I know, but it was sooooo good. It wasn't too rich, a pleasant attribute because we were quite stuffed at that point, even after splitting. They do charge $3.00 for a split plate but that was understandable considering all of the appetizers that come with the meal. We dined on an Amazon Local deal and we got no bad attitude or rudeness because of it. Some places cringe when they see the mobile coupons coming there way. Not Marino's! It was a pleasant dining experience. Nothing too fancy, but still nice for a...

We took my granddaughter there to celebrate her birthday; she wanted pizza. We made the right choice. You walk in and you feel like you have stepped back in time to a real New York or Boston La Familia run Italian Restaurant. It’s not cheesy looking, no pun intended but it’s cozy so cozy you almost wish for a rainy evening as you walk in to smell the garlic cooking. Mmmm 😋 just like my moms house on a Sunday dinner. We had Pizza, salad and calamari…they were off the hook. The pizzas were fantastic made the right way. The crusts both thin and thick crust had great flavor and cooked to perfection. The thick crust gets that caramely cheesy on the edges….Yummalicious!!! Omg the Italian dressing they make is so good it’s almost as good as I make at home. There bread is fantastic. Oh and dip it in their red sauce. Aaahh. Yes!!! Oh I cannot forget to mention the absolute on point perfect service. Thank you Marino’s for making my granddaughters birthday so special she loved it; we loved it. She may be only 9 but when you’re Italian you’re born a true foody. Especially in this...

Honestly, there just aren't that many legit old-school Italian places around anymore. This is the type of place that you feel like you stepped into a restaurant scene from the Godfather, and they treat you like that too--every meal is at least a 3-course meal, they treat you like family, the food is 'no funny business', and always winds up being quite the value when you factor in: -- They always start you with a salad -- Wine is decent and reasonably priced -- Good appetizers, if you have the appetite to include them -- Entrees so legit they make Olive Garden seem silly -- They always finish you with a round of spumoni ice cream for dessert, no charge

Honestly, this is the best place to have a legit Italian date: three courses of food and a few glasses of wine with authentic atmosphere and get out of there for under $100 for the night. Hard to do that within a 10 mile radius. I never leave...